Vcard Resume Site Rebuild Log: What I Changed and Why It Held Up
I didn’t rebuild my personal site because I wanted a “cooler portfolio.” I rebuilt it because my old resume page had become the kind of thing you only update when you absolutely must—right before a deadline, right before sending a link to someone important, right before a job application that suddenly feels higher-stakes than it should. That’s also why I ended up working with Vcard – CV Resume WordPress Theme: not to chase aesthetics, but to reduce the cost of maintenance on a site that’s supposed to represent me when I’m not there to explain myself.
The real trigger: my resume page became “fragile”
A personal resume site fails in a specific way. It doesn’t crash, it doesn’t throw errors, it doesn’t go offline. It just becomes fragile.
Fragile means:
I avoid editing it because every change feels like it might break formatting.
I keep copy shorter than it should be because longer paragraphs “look weird.”
I stop updating key sections (recent projects, new skills, timeline details) because I can’t do it quickly.
I send a PDF instead of a link, even though the link would be more current, because the link feels unreliable.
It’s embarrassing in a quiet way. Not dramatic, but persistent. And it shows up at the worst moment: when you want to look organized, you feel disorganized.
So I approached this rebuild like a site administrator would: I treated the resume site as a maintained system, not a “one-time design.”
My constraint: a resume site must be readable under stress
I have a simple rule for personal sites: the visitor often arrives under some form of stress.
Maybe they’re hiring and scanning quickly.
Maybe they’re reviewing candidates after a long day.
Maybe they’re comparing multiple profiles in one sitting.
Maybe they clicked the link during a meeting and need a fast confirmation of “who is this person.”
In that moment, the visitor doesn’t want a creative puzzle. They want orientation and clarity.
So the rebuild goal was not “stand out visually.” It was “stand out by being easy to understand.”
That’s harder than it sounds, because most people (including me) confuse “unique” with “effective.” Unique can create friction. Effective reduces friction.
How I chose the theme: I prioritized editing comfort
When I test a resume theme, I don’t start by staring at the demo. I start by imagining what the site looks like after six months of real edits.
Because personal sites are not updated like corporate sites. They’re updated irregularly and emotionally:
You update your title when your role changes.
You add a project after a deadline.
You tweak the wording after receiving feedback.
You remove old work when you feel it no longer represents you.
That style of editing is messy. The theme has to tolerate messy edits without looking messy.
So I tested Vcard with boring admin actions:
I changed heading lengths by 30–60%.
I doubled paragraph lengths.
I replaced a short timeline item with a long one.
I added a “side note” line to descriptions.
I removed a section completely and checked whether the page still felt coherent.
A theme that only looks good with perfect content isn’t useful. I needed something that still looked calm when content was imperfect.
The big decision: I stopped treating the homepage as a billboard
Most resume sites behave like billboards: huge hero, big claim, lots of self-description.
The problem is that self-description is expensive for visitors. If I claim too much, visitors become skeptical. If I claim too little, visitors don’t know what I do. And if I try to balance it with adjectives, it turns into noise.
So I rewrote the top of the page as orientation, not persuasion.
Orientation is simple:
Who is this?
What kind of work do they do?
What should I look at next?
If I answer those clearly, the visitor can choose their own path through the page. That’s the key: a good resume site doesn’t force a narrative. It offers multiple entry points without feeling scattered.
Page flow: I built the experience around “confirmations”
When someone opens a CV/resume site, they’re scanning for confirmations.
They want to confirm:
This person matches the role’s domain or style.
The work history feels coherent.
The candidate has real outputs, not just claims.
The contact path is obvious and low friction.
So instead of thinking in “sections,” I designed in confirmations. Each part of the page should quietly confirm something, without saying “I am great.”
This is why I avoided writing “marketing” sentences. Not because marketing is wrong, but because it creates friction in a resume context. People are trained to distrust self-praise.
Structure carries the message better than adjectives.
The content mistake I corrected: I used to write for myself
My old resume page was written like I was talking to myself.
It contained phrases I understood, but a visitor didn’t. It assumed the visitor would read carefully. It assumed context. It used internal jargon and shortcuts. It also had the typical pattern: long lists of tools that meant nothing without examples.
During this rebuild, I kept asking:
“If someone skims this, what do they actually learn?”
If the answer was “not much,” I rewrote it.
I didn’t add more content. I made content easier to parse.
The most important structural change: I separated identity from evidence
Most personal sites mix identity and evidence.
Identity is things like:
“I’m a developer/designer/marketer.”
“I’m passionate about X.”
“I value Y.”
Evidence is:
projects
outcomes
decisions
constraints
trade-offs
what you actually built or shipped
If you mix them, the visitor has to work harder to understand. And people don’t work harder unless they’re already convinced.
So I separated them:
Top area: identity (short, calm, factual)
Middle: evidence (projects, work timeline, outputs)
Bottom: contact and next steps (simple, no friction)
This isn’t a “template.” It’s just a way to reduce cognitive load.
What I avoided on purpose: feature-like lists and “skill wall” sections
A resume site often includes a “skills” section that becomes a wall of keywords. I used to do this too. The problem is that keyword walls read like compensation for lack of evidence—even if you do have evidence.
So I changed the way I handled skills:
I referenced skills inside project descriptions as part of decisions.
I used tools as context, not as decoration.
I removed anything that didn’t show up in actual work examples.
This made the page feel quieter. Quiet is good. Quiet implies confidence.
Mobile reading comfort: I treated it like the default
A personal resume site is often opened from messaging apps. The first impression is frequently on mobile. That means mobile can’t be an afterthought.
I used a simple mobile test:
Open the site on a phone.
Scroll without stopping.
Notice any moment where I feel irritation or confusion.
Fix that moment.
Irritation usually comes from:
headings that are too large and break reading rhythm
inconsistent spacing between sections
text blocks that feel dense on small screens
“visual separators” that look nice but interrupt scanning
I reduced those interruptions by simplifying transitions. I didn’t try to make it more “designed.” I made it more readable.
The operational part: I made updates easy for future me
The biggest problem with personal sites is not building them. It’s updating them.
Future updates happen when you’re busy. They happen when you’re tired. They happen after you finish a project and you don’t want to rewrite your site, you just want to add one thing.
So I optimized for future edits:
I created a repeatable project entry pattern.
I kept descriptions short but specific.
I made sure adding a new timeline item wouldn’t change the layout rhythm.
I avoided “layout tricks” that depend on exact copy length.
This is a maintenance mindset, not a design mindset.
A common misconception: a resume site must “tell my story”
People say “tell your story” a lot. I get the intent, but most of the time it produces long introductions that no one reads.
I reframed it:
A resume site should not tell a story.
It should make it easy for someone else to tell your story accurately.
That means:
clear timeline
clear roles
clear project outcomes
clear scope boundaries
clear contact path
If those are present, the visitor can construct the story quickly.
What I changed in my writing style: fewer claims, more constraints
In my older content, I wrote like this:
“I built X.”
“I love Y.”
“I’m experienced in Z.”
Now I write more like:
“I worked on X under constraints A and B.”
“I chose approach Y because it reduced risk/cost.”
“I shipped Z, and here’s the scope.”
Constraints are believable. Claims are cheap.
This doesn’t mean being overly technical. It means being specific.
The “visitor behavior” lens: how people actually skim resume pages
After launch, I watched my own behavior when reviewing other people’s portfolios (this is the best research because it’s honest). Here’s what I realized:
I rarely read intros fully.
I look for a quick summary line.
I scan project titles.
I open one project and read it more carefully.
If it’s too long or too vague, I leave quickly.
If it’s structured well, I keep exploring.
So I shaped my page accordingly:
I made the top summary short.
I ensured project entries could be skimmed.
I kept detail inside a consistent reading structure.
I avoided “decorative complexity” that slows scanning.
This is not about “conversion.” It’s about respect for attention.
The subtle benefit: the site became easier to keep honest
A personal site can become dishonest without you meaning to.
Not in the sense of lying, but in the sense of misrepresenting who you are now. You keep old projects because removing them feels like deleting proof. You keep old tool lists because they seem impressive. You keep old phrasing because rewriting feels like work.
After this rebuild, it became easier to delete things. That surprised me.
Because the structure was stable, removing outdated items didn’t create holes. The page didn’t collapse when I trimmed.
That’s a sign of a healthy system: it can shrink without breaking.
The admin discipline I kept: one pattern, reused consistently
I resisted the urge to make each section feel unique.
Uniqueness in UI is expensive because it increases the number of patterns the visitor must understand. On a resume site, visitors should not spend effort learning your page.
So I repeated patterns:
consistent headings
consistent spacing
consistent project format
consistent tone
consistent use of short paragraphs
Consistency is not boring to visitors. It’s calming.
Where this theme choice fits in my broader browsing habits
When I’m selecting themes for projects—even personal ones—I sometimes scan category listings to calibrate my preferences. It’s not about shopping endlessly. It’s about clarifying what I value.
I looked through Business WordPress Themes as a way to compare structural approaches. Some themes lean heavily into visuals; others feel more like content systems. Seeing that range helps me avoid accidental choices based on “demo mood.”
Even when you already chose Vcard, this type of comparison is useful because it forces you to articulate what you need:
Do you need a page that tolerates frequent edits?
Do you need a calm reading rhythm?
Do you want a structure-first resume site or a design-first portfolio?
If you can answer those, your theme becomes a tool rather than a gamble.
The part that matters after a few weeks: how I felt about updating it
After launch, I evaluated the rebuild with a simple question:
“Do I avoid the dashboard?”
If the answer is yes, the rebuild failed.
For weeks after rebuilding, I intentionally made small edits:
adjusted the top summary
added a new project entry
rewrote a timeline item
removed older content
changed wording in contact prompts (without adding hype)
Each time, I watched for friction. Did I hesitate? Did I worry about breaking layout? Did I feel the need to check five devices?
The friction was noticeably lower. That’s what I wanted. A resume site must be easy to maintain, or it will become outdated, and outdated is visible even when visitors can’t name why.
The biggest lesson I took from this rebuild
A resume site is not a stage. It’s an interface.
The visitor is trying to extract accurate information quickly and calmly. If you build the site like a stage, you optimize for performance. If you build it like an interface, you optimize for clarity.
In practice, that means:
fewer claims
more structure
consistent patterns
mobile reading comfort
low maintenance overhead
That’s the lens I used throughout this rebuild, and it’s why I approached Vcard the way I did: not as a “theme to show off,” but as a foundation for a personal site that remains correct when life gets busy.
Closing: I rebuilt for future edits, not launch day
Most personal sites look their best on launch day. That’s not the real test.
The real test is six months later, when you need to update it quickly, when you’re not in a “design mood,” when you’re sending the link to someone you want to impress, and you need to trust the page without re-checking everything.
I rebuilt my resume site so it could survive that future moment: calm structure, low friction updates, and a reading flow that doesn’t ask visitors to work too hard.
That’s what I wanted, and it’s what this rebuild finally gave me.
